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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Lots of good philosophical considerations in this book but could've been half the length to get the point across. Also seems a bit anti feminist at the end considering Ayla could be the Mother incarnate in a society that is supposed to revere women, but I'm still enjoying it.
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
For all its' flaws, I am still interested in Ayla's journey. The Lion Camp arc which spans most of the book was treat as I could see Ayla being accepted among "her people". The Lion Camp folk were surprisingly open minded. Big man Talut was my favorite.
Of course, Ayla's ingenious "inventions" made my eyes roll over time. And the prolonged conflict between Ayla and Jondalar....
Jondalar, he is faulty with his prejudice but hey aren't we all faulty? Ayla, she's been on her own for so long and having only just familiarized herself with the customs of Others, it is no wonder such "conflicts" have occured.
I stopped reading for a day or two when R died. And I was pained when Ayla finally realized she could not truly be with her son.
Of course, Ayla's ingenious "inventions" made my eyes roll over time. And the prolonged conflict between Ayla and Jondalar....
Jondalar, he is faulty with his prejudice but hey aren't we all faulty? Ayla, she's been on her own for so long and having only just familiarized herself with the customs of Others, it is no wonder such "conflicts" have occured.
I stopped reading for a day or two when R died. And I was pained when Ayla finally realized she could not truly be with her son.
Ayla's story continues with her lover. They go with the mysterious men and learn about them. Ayla's history with the Flatheads is discovered, and at first is a scandal. Gradually, however, the people accept her. There is Romance in her, and treachery, betrayal, broken hearts, mispoken words, and hunting all rolled into one!
Lots to say about this one, but I'll keep it short.
The first book in the series is one of my favourite books. Ever. The second one took a step down with the introduction of another human character. This one moved even further away from what charmed me so much about the first one. I wonder if it will ever come back around.
Story-wise, this one dragged a lot in the middle. The characters are caught up in an angtsy love triangle that I'm still trying to recover from. My eyes are exhausted from all the rolling.
The main reason I can't rate this very highly is that there were a lot of very cringey concepts around children and sex. The thinly veiled racism also continues from the previous volume.
The first book in the series is one of my favourite books. Ever. The second one took a step down with the introduction of another human character. This one moved even further away from what charmed me so much about the first one. I wonder if it will ever come back around.
Story-wise, this one dragged a lot in the middle. The characters are caught up in an angtsy love triangle that I'm still trying to recover from. My eyes are exhausted from all the rolling.
The main reason I can't rate this very highly is that there were a lot of very cringey concepts around children and sex. The thinly veiled racism also continues from the previous volume.
I reread this book series every year, and every year I pick up more and more nuances and things to enjoy. Highly recommended.
adventurous
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The huge misunderstanding is dragged out throughout the entire book and is SO frustrating! I did love the characters, Wolf, and the story line, but my word, did it have to be dragged out so long?
This is a brilliant series! Although I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two books and the whole jondalar/ayla issue really irritated me at points... (just TALK to each other people!!) its still fab. Think the tame animals especially Wolf are fast becoming my favourite literary characters. (joke!)
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Too much graphic sex.
RE-READ.
It shouldn't take over a year to re-read a book. For fuck's sake. I love this series as a whole, but even nostalgia couldn't save this book. Here are two quotes I had about Ayla's mary-sue-qualities from the first two books:
Clan of the Cave Bear:
"And yes, in this book, and for most of what I remember of the follow-on novels, Ayla is a bit of a "mary-sue" - but in this context, I don't see how she could be anything else. Ayla is Auel's vehicle of exploration, the character who lives in both worlds and thus, understandably, has a broader grasp of where two wildly different people/culture are similar, and where they diverge."
The Valley of Horses:
"Critiques that Ayla is a Mary Sue remain valid, and she sort of is, but at the same time I maintain that the circumstance she’s in makes it realistic - a bitch is alone in a cave! Innovate or die is the option - of course she tames a horse, of course her closeness to nature and her observations reinforce her suspicion that sex creates babies! I’ll say again that Ayla is the vehicle through which we are exploring both human extinction and evolution in separate lines, and to maintain that narrative point she has to have a certain element of obvious Mary Sue-ness to her to underscore the vast difference between the two species of humans."
So here's the problem - the previous two books have exhibited, and highlighted, how Ayla's unique upbringing and cultural-clash coming of age equips her with significant critical thinking abilities. She is smart, she's a genius, and she is capable of extreme analytical leaps - and yet this book, "The Mammoth Hunters," is little more than a 700 page slog of idiocy that revolves around a contrived love triangle that only works through the infantilization of Ayla.
Initially, it could have been believable/interesting as Ayla struggles to over come her Clan conditioning that she must be available to to men at all times. But she is repeatedly told that this isn't the case, she KNOWS she has the right to choose, and yet for 500 more pages after this she whines and mopes and Jondalar whines and mopes - so while she continues to be Queen of the Great Leap Forward intellectually, Auel reduces her to an emotionally stunted morose moron in order to create a painfully boring love triangle. Jondalar, too is giving nonsensical storylines that boggle the mind and defy logic.
A little drama is okay. Whatever the fuck this mostly-miserable soap opera is is just tragic.
Anthropologically, this book is GOOD. The evolution of culture, of humans figuring themselves our, continues to be impressive - and the final scene with Rydag is really touching and beautiful. But it doesn't make up for the obnoxious snooze fest the rest of the book is. I know I liked the rest of the books in this series, but I'm put off continuing my re-read for now.
It shouldn't take over a year to re-read a book. For fuck's sake. I love this series as a whole, but even nostalgia couldn't save this book. Here are two quotes I had about Ayla's mary-sue-qualities from the first two books:
Clan of the Cave Bear:
"And yes, in this book, and for most of what I remember of the follow-on novels, Ayla is a bit of a "mary-sue" - but in this context, I don't see how she could be anything else. Ayla is Auel's vehicle of exploration, the character who lives in both worlds and thus, understandably, has a broader grasp of where two wildly different people/culture are similar, and where they diverge."
The Valley of Horses:
"Critiques that Ayla is a Mary Sue remain valid, and she sort of is, but at the same time I maintain that the circumstance she’s in makes it realistic - a bitch is alone in a cave! Innovate or die is the option - of course she tames a horse, of course her closeness to nature and her observations reinforce her suspicion that sex creates babies! I’ll say again that Ayla is the vehicle through which we are exploring both human extinction and evolution in separate lines, and to maintain that narrative point she has to have a certain element of obvious Mary Sue-ness to her to underscore the vast difference between the two species of humans."
So here's the problem - the previous two books have exhibited, and highlighted, how Ayla's unique upbringing and cultural-clash coming of age equips her with significant critical thinking abilities. She is smart, she's a genius, and she is capable of extreme analytical leaps - and yet this book, "The Mammoth Hunters," is little more than a 700 page slog of idiocy that revolves around a contrived love triangle that only works through the infantilization of Ayla.
Initially, it could have been believable/interesting as Ayla struggles to over come her Clan conditioning that she must be available to to men at all times. But she is repeatedly told that this isn't the case, she KNOWS she has the right to choose, and yet for 500 more pages after this she whines and mopes and Jondalar whines and mopes - so while she continues to be Queen of the Great Leap Forward intellectually, Auel reduces her to an emotionally stunted morose moron in order to create a painfully boring love triangle. Jondalar, too is giving nonsensical storylines that boggle the mind and defy logic.
A little drama is okay. Whatever the fuck this mostly-miserable soap opera is is just tragic.
Anthropologically, this book is GOOD. The evolution of culture, of humans figuring themselves our, continues to be impressive - and the final scene with Rydag is really touching and beautiful. But it doesn't make up for the obnoxious snooze fest the rest of the book is. I know I liked the rest of the books in this series, but I'm put off continuing my re-read for now.